Into the Black

I’m back in Seaside, FL for the week doing improv & sketch comedy with The Flaws, and having a great time. Krista was out of town this weekend, so David asked if I could come down & join them for their shows in her stead. Of course, I was all about that because I’ve really missed doing improv (and I always enjoyed working with David & Kevin.) We had our first show last night, and it was a lot of fun. We did three sketches, a Harold, and a couple short form games (Freeze & World’s Worst.) I taped last night’s show & I’m going to tape tonight’s as well, and the plan is to put the sketches up on YouTube.

Improv with The Flaws

In addition, David & I shot a digital short yesterday called “What’s Behind the Hat?” It’s something we came up with last year but weren’t able to shoot, so I’m glad we were able to get it done. I edited it yesterday, & we’re going to premiere it at the show tonight, & I’ll have it up on YouTube soon. I also shot the other half of “Antichrist Pregnancy Test” with David & Krista on Tuesday (before she had to leave for the airport), and I’ll get that edited & online soon. I’m helping David & Justin film a Flaws short tomorrow, & I’m going through my notes to see if I have any ideas for something else I can shoot real quick down here, since I have people available. I’ve decided that I enjoy digital shorts much more than short films; they’re less of a headache to shoot & take infinitely less time to edit.

Other than that, it’s just been really nice to get down here & see everyone from last summer. There are some great people in Seaside, both working at the Rep & in the community itself. I watched a children’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest on Wednesday, & tonight I’m going to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which I’m really looking forward to because it’s one of my favorite plays.

I’ve also taken the opportunity to go off my diet for a few days and eat some of the awesome food this town has to offer: Pesto chicken salad sandwiches at Amavida, BBQ pork sliders at Barefoot BBQ, a burger from Shorty’s Surfside, monstrous slices of chocolate cake from Modica Market, and of course, the grandaddy of them all, the loaded Kobe Beef Burger with cheddar cheese from Summer Kitchen Cafe in Rosemary Beach. I had it once the last time it was here, & it was the best burger I’d had in a loooong time (so much so that I’ve had it twice since I’ve been here.)

Kobe Beef Burger from Summer Kitchen Cafe

I’ve been taking a bunch of pictures, so I’ll have lots more to share once I get everything up online in the next few days.

And now for something completely trivial & inconsequential.

Hardee’s has been running ads for something they’re promoting as “grilled cheese for grown-ups.” Okay, sounds good. But here’s the ad in question:

Now, I don’t know if you caught it or not… but that’s a cheeseburger. You see that giant beef patty in there? Yeah, the very presence of such a thing suddenly transforms said sandwich from a grilled cheese into a cheeseburger. Now, I’m all for the concept of grilled cheese for adults… But if GuyWhoLooksLikeJavierBardem wanted a cheeseburger, he would have ordered a cheeseburger! No, my friends, he was in the mood for comfort food, and as such he ordered himself a grilled cheese sandwich. Sure, maybe he would have liked it manned up a bit (or maybe not; he seems quite secure in himself there), but that doesn’t mean he wants it with a side of beef.

Can you make a grilled cheese for adults? Sure! Hell, they’re off to a pretty good start there without the burger: Two pieces of sourdough, enough cheese to constipate even the Big Show, and yes, even those strips of bacon can be permitted to stay. But it doesn’t matter how you slice it, as soon as you add in that beef patty, it ceases to be a grilled cheese entirely.

Yes, these are the kinds of things I think about.

Lately I’ve been trying to find new local restaurants in Atlanta to try. After eating at chain restaurants so much, I’ve kinda gotten sick of places where the food is the same regardless of where you are in the country. Also, my favorite show on the Food Network is “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” and watching that show always makes me hungry for good, original food. For Christmas, my mom got me a DDD book, and there were two restaurants in there in the Atlanta area. I called up my good friend Christen, and we went and checked them out.

Matthews Cafeteria – Tucker, GA

The first place we tried was Matthews Cafeteria. I was excited when I saw that one of the places in the book was in Tucker, because that’s only about ten minutes from where I live. It was interesting, because driving past it it’s one of those places I never would have stopped. It has a small, nondescript entrance in the middle of old town Tucker, and even the inside was very plain: white walls, small tables with simple checkered cloths, and simple rod iron chairs (interestingly enough, they DID offer wifi.) That said, from the way the other people in line were chatting with the workers, I got the impression that the majority of their clientele are regulars.

As the name would imply, the service inside was setup cafeteria style, where you just go down a line and pick up whatever you want to eat. There wasn’t a huge selection of different foods, just a handful of entrees, sides, & desserts, but when I asked about one of the items mentioned in the book (their brunswick stew), they said it was only available on Wednesdays, leading me to assume that they have a different assortment of foods available each day. The food we did have was quite good. The chicken was cooked perfectly (I love it when it’s moist and just falls right off the bone), the scalloped potatoes were great, and the sweet tea was just what you’d expect from a country restaurant. I’ll definitely be going back there soon.

The Highlander – Atlanta, GA

The Highlander piqued my interest as soon as I saw it in the book for one reason: Homemade mozzarella sticks. Most places you go will just have frozen mozzarella sticks, but this place uses fresh mozzarella, wraps it in pasta, coats it, and then fries it. And holy crap, they are awesome. I’ve been there twice now, and ordered them both times. They seem to do sides really well, because I’ve also tried their jalapeno corn fritters, and they rock. They’re like really moist hush puppies with jalapenos. That is to say, delicious.

The first time I went I ordered the lobster ravioli, and it was killer (plus it’s just kinda cool to be able to order lobster ravioli at a bar.) It was a daily special, though, so I have no idea how often they serve it. The second time I went I ordered the bratwurst melt, but it wasn’t as good as I was expecting. Bratwurst is one of those tricky things, because depending on where it’s from it comes in one of three varieties: Awesome, Flavorless, and Breakfast Sausage (I’m sure there are actual names for different varieties of bratwurst, but frankly I’m not that knowledgeable.) Unfortunately, this one fell into the breakfast sausage category. But considering there’s still about a dozen things on the menu that look good, I’m not going to let one bad sandwich keep me away.

This is the kind of place I wouldn’t mind going to on a regular basis. It’s a bar in Midtown that has amazing food and is open until 3am, which means it’d be a great place to grab a bite after a concert or a night out in Atlanta.

Anyone know of any other good local restaurants in the Atlanta area? I’m on the lookout now, so any suggestions would be great.